Marketing push boosts sell through for Gander
INCREASED marketing activity from Gander appears to be driving engagement with the reductions app – cutting food waste in the process.
Gander offers retailers a solution for selling surplus good-to-eat food through an app that alerts consumers to deals in their area.
Data from the second half of 2021 revealed that as Gander’s in-app event activity increased, so to did the sell-through rate.
Gander has been scaling up its communications to existing Gander users, increasing the number of email campaigns and push notifications.
The app’s monthly newsletter also showcases food that users have saved and can also generate recipes that consumers can use to make the most of food available in their area.
According to Gander, daily activity on the app spikes on average 34% after these messages.
Mike Osborne, co-founder of, Gander, said: “As engagement increases with reductions on the app, the more products are sold in store and therefore significantly less goes to waste.
“As an example, Gander has reduced waste by 40% across a large estate of convenience stores which can equate to nearly 1,000 products being saved from waste per store, per week.
“Part of Gander’s mission is to reshape consumer shopping habits; making markdowns a mainstream purchase.
“We focus on removing any stigma attached to this food by using inviting imagery and light-hearted use of puns and play on words to convey that this food is perfectly good and should not go to waste.
“This is part of a large movement currently happening and will be instrumental in saving more food from retailers’ shelves but also decreasing household food waste.”
In addition to ramping up its marketing activities, Osborne said one of the keys to Gander’s success has been to offer shoppers products they “want and need” at a lower price, rather than providing a “lucky dip” of surplus food.
“We can see our progress on this when app users share via social media what they’ve found and created on Gander. These purchases are now something to shout about, proudly,” he said.
For retailers, Osborne said the appeal is that nothing changes in store. Staff continue to markdown products as usual and the app is updated in real time.
“As products aren’t purchased on the platform, Gander encourages users to visit and purchase the reduced food in store and therefore 77% of shoppers also buy a full price item,” he said.
